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Each country has its own traditions of drinking wine. In Georgia, it was known 3000 years ago. But despite the large amount of fine wine and strong chacha, which is made in almost every home, drunkenness is not common in Georgia and Abkhazia. Alcoholic beverages are treated here as a means of prolonging life. Almost every feast is complete without wine or chacha. They drink quite a lot, but at the same time, the feast lasts a long time, accompanied not only by a large number of famous Georgian toasts, but also by an abundance of delicious dishes that the cuisine of this people is so famous for.
Chacha – what is it
Chacha is a high strength drink. At its core, this is moonshine from grape pulp, purified by single, double and even triple distillation. The strength of the drink depends on the number of distillations, which in some cases reaches 70 degrees. Traditionally, chacha is not stronger than 45 degrees, it is this drink that brings the most pleasure and is best drunk.
According to the classification of wines, chacha is a strong grape brandy. The name of the drink, patented in Georgia in 2011 and also protected by the European Union, comes from the raw materials used to make it. In Georgia, this is what grape pomace is called. It must have high acidity. Only in this case the drink will have a rich taste and rich aroma. In Georgia, it is customary to use pomace from the Rkatsiteli grape variety, in Abkhazia, the Isabella grape variety is preferred.
The tradition of making strong spirits from grapes exists in many countries in which it grows. Therefore, chacha also has foreign relatives: in Italy it is grappa, in Portugal it is bagacheira, in France it is mark, in Spain it is orujo. Chilean pisco and Balkan brandy are considered analogues of chacha.
In Georgia and Abkhazia, chacha is made in almost every rural home. The recipe belongs to the family and is kept secret.
There are special village devices for distilling chacha. One of the old distillation apparatus is kept in the museum. 2
In Georgia, copper containers are used to make chacha.
Chacha is drunk not only during a feast. This is a traditional drink for an aperitif. During agricultural work, the peasants drank a glass of chacha with breakfast so that they would have the strength for a whole day of hard work. It is customary to drink this drink in small piles or glasses, but not in one gulp, experts advise drinking it slowly, in small sips. Then it will bring undoubted benefits.
The benefits of chacha and its harm
Since this drink is prepared on the basis of grapes, it has absorbed its beneficial properties. It contains vitamins PP and B2. Chacha has a rich mineral composition and contains salts of iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium. All these elements are part of the cells of the human body. Chacha also contains antioxidants, which are so necessary to fight many diseases.
Abkhazians and Georgians believe that in many respects they owe their longevity to chacha. This drink has the following properties:
- lowers cholesterol;
- improves the functioning of the heart and blood vessels;
- destroys cancer cells;
- normalizes metabolism;
- reduces swelling;
- improves digestion;
- Helps fight inflammation and viruses.
Like every drink, chacha has its contraindications. It should not be drunk by women who are expecting a baby and nursing mothers. Doctors do not advise people with chronic diseases to use chacha.
If it is not possible to taste chacha in Georgia, it is quite possible to enjoy it at home. There are several proven recipes for making chacha at home without or using yeast.
Preparation of Chacha
You can prepare a drink from one grape variety, Isabella, Rkatsiteli, Akachi are considered the best. You can also use a mixture of different varieties.
For preservation, it is often treated with special substances that can spoil the taste and quality of the drink.
To get waste-free production, it is better to cook grape wine and chacha at the same time. From grape pomace you get a strong drink of excellent quality.
For preparation it will be required:
- 10 kg of grape cake;
- 30 liters of water;
- 5 kg of sugar.
The role of the yeast component will be played by wild yeast, which is always on the surface of the grapes.
It will take longer to ferment chacha without adding yeast, but the drink will turn out to be of a higher quality, more aromatic and softer. The fermentation process can take up to 3 months.
Soft water should be used, but distilled or boiled water will not work. If the water is chlorinated, it must be defended for 2 days.
Cooking equipment
- Containers for fermentation of grape pulp should be large enough. Fill them 9/10 so that the fermentable product does not spill out. Do not use aluminum containers to make chacha. The acid found in grapes will oxidize aluminum to form harmful salts.
- Water seal. It is necessary so that oxygen does not enter the fermenting pulp. If this happens, acetic acid fermentation will begin and the product will be spoiled. The released gases must have an outlet, which provides a water seal.
- Distiller or moonshine.
- Dishes for storing chacha. Ideally, if it is an oak or beech barrel. If not, you will have to limit yourself to glass containers.
- Alcoholometer. During the distillation process, the strength of the liquid will have to be measured repeatedly.
Chacha at home is prepared in several stages.
If chacha is made from pomace left for making wine, the pomace is already ready. Otherwise, you need to crush the berries well with your hands. We place the cake or crushed grapes, without straining the juice, into a fermentation container. Now you need to prepare the syrup. To do this, heat ½ liter of water and a kilogram of sugar until it is completely dissolved.
Remember to keep stirring the syrup. We prepare the pulp. To do this, dilute the cake or grapes with the remaining water, which we heat up a little. Its temperature should not exceed 35 degrees so that wild yeast does not die. Add syrup to the container and mix thoroughly. We install a water seal. The fermentation process should take place at a temperature of 25 to 28 degrees in a dark place.
Attention! To prevent the crushed grapes that float to the surface during fermentation from becoming moldy, the contents of the fermentation tank must be mixed every 2 or 3 days.
As soon as carbon dioxide ceases to be released, it is time to proceed to the next step in the preparation of chacha – distillation. If distillation is carried out without straining the pulp, the product may burn. Therefore, we strain the grape skin, seeds and ridges through several layers of gauze, but do not throw it away. Placed in a gauze bag and hung over the distillation vessel, they will provide a unique flavor to the cup.
The filtered liquid is placed in a distillation cube. Let’s do the first run. We finish it when the strength of the distilled liquid becomes less than 30 degrees. Using an alcohol meter, we determine the amount of alcohol in the distilled liquid. We dilute it with water to an alcohol concentration of 20%. Put it back in the distillation apparatus and start the second distillation.
When 1/10 part is distilled, we remove it. This is the so-called head. We also remove the tail, which remains after reaching a temperature of 95 degrees in the distillation cube. There are many harmful substances in the head and tail, such as fusel oils, esters, methyl alcohol. For the preparation of chacha, only the body is used, or, as they say in Georgia, the heart, that is, the middle part of the distilled liquid. The tail and head are usually added during the distillation of the next batch of mash, which will be prepared from a new batch of grapes. We dilute the resulting chacha to the required strength and let it mature in barrels or bottles for 3 weeks.
You can cook chacha according to a traditional Georgian recipe.
You will need:
- 15 kg of grapes of incomplete ripeness;
- 5 and 40 liters of water heated to 35 degrees;
- 8 kg of sugar.
It is necessary to carefully crush the grapes along with the combs. We place it in an enamel bowl, adding 5 liters of water. Let it wander in warmth and darkness for about 4 days. Remember to cover the container with gauze or a towel, but not with a lid. The appearance of a cap of foam is a signal that it is time to strain the mash.
We do it through gauze. Put the pomace back into the pan, adding the rest of the water and sugar. Leave in heat until complete fermentation, closing the lid.
We do the first distillation completely by hanging the cake in gauze inside the distillation vessel. The output of alcohol is about 10 liters. We add the same amount of water and carry out a second distillation, cutting off about 300 ml of the “head” and taking the whole body. The strength of the finished product should be about 80 degrees. Insist chacha for about 3 weeks.
Conclusion
This tasty and healthy drink is a national treasure of Georgia. But nothing stops you from making it at home. By experimenting with additives and wooden barrels for aging chacha, you can achieve the amazing taste of this ancient drink.
